Colorful Houses of Greenland Towns

Greenland is the world’s largest non-continental island, largely within the Arctic and to the northeast of Canada. Although it is still part of the Kingdom of Denmark, it was granted self-government effective in 1979. More recently it voted for more autonomy, in effect making it a separate country with formal ties to Denmark.

According to the Icelandic Sagas, Erik the Red chose the name “Greenland” to entice settlers from Iceland. In fact, Greenland has far more ice cover than Iceland does – about 84% of its surface area is covered with ice. I don’t exactly know why the houses are so colorful, but I think a pretty good guess is that they brighten up the otherwise bleak landscape. Whatever the reason is, I love how the colors give the towns such charm and a feeling of quaintness.

About TravelVista.NET

Travelvista.net has been providing our visitors with unique travel articles and great photography since December 2009. Our main goal is to share interesting facts and tidbits about the most fascinating tourist destinations in the world with our readers, whether it's to inspire you or simply plant a seed in your mind about a future destination…[more]